India, French Rafale fighters start Desert Knight wargames

The Indian Air Force on January 20, 2021, started the first major international wargames involving its Rafale fighter jets along with their French counterparts in Jodhpur. The Exercise Desert Knight-21 is being held at Jodhpur Air Force Station from January 20 to 24.

As part of the first edition of the exercise, four French Rafale fighters had landed in Jodhpur after flying for around four hours from the Djibouti Airbase. The Rafale fighters used their A-330 multirole tanker transport aircraft which had also landed in Jodhpur.

Currently, the French detachment for the Exercise Desert Knight-21 has been deployed in Asia as part of their ‘Skyros Deployment’ and has ferried in forces to Jodhpur’s Air Force Station.

#IndoFrenchEx
French Air and Space Force is participating with 1*MRTT Tanker, 2*A-400M Tactical aircraft & 4* Rafale fighters in #DesertKnight21.

The full complement of IAF & French teams are at Jodhpur, ready to exercise jointly to enhance interoperability.

Together we can! pic.twitter.com/Xkrm0yxN1S

— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) January 21, 2021

Key Highlights:

•  The French have been participating with Airbase A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, Rafale, A-400M Tactical Transport Aircraft, and approx. 175 personnel.

•  The Indian Air Force aircraft that have been participating in the exercise include Su-30 MKI, Mirage 2000, AWACS and AEW&C aircraft, Rafale, IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft.

•  The exercise being held between Indian and French Rafale fighters marks a significant milestone in the series of engagements between the two powerful air forces.

Indo-French defence cooperation:

•  As part of the defence cooperation, the French Air and Space Force and the Indian Air Force held six editions of air exercises named ‘Garuda’. The latest being held in 2019 in France’s Air Force Base Monte-de-Marsan.

•  The French Air Force, in 2018 while ferrying to Australia for Exercise Pitchblack, was hosted by the Indian Air Force at the Force Stations in Gwalior and Agra for the exercise with MRTT aircraft and fighters.

•  For further promoting the existing cooperation, the French and Indian Air Force have been gainfully utilizing the available opportunities for conducting ‘hop-exercises’.